


Swallow My Pride

by Wherethereissmoak



Series: Julie's Summer 2017 Hiatus Fics [8]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, First Kiss, Olicity Hiatus Fic-A-Thon, Season 2 AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-25
Updated: 2017-07-25
Packaged: 2018-12-06 18:43:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11606679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wherethereissmoak/pseuds/Wherethereissmoak
Summary: After Felicity is shot by the Clock King, she and Oliver run into a Russian mafia member who causes Oliver to lie and say they are engaged. This is the last straw for the girl who has been burying her feelings for him for far too long.





	Swallow My Pride

**Author's Note:**

> Here is my submission for the hiatus fic-a-thon prompt of "pride." I've been sick this week and I have no beta, so I apologize for any errors.
> 
> Edited to add the lovely cover art by @pleasantfanandstudent

Felicity had always prided herself on her ability to keep her feelings for Oliver undercover, at bay. Being his friend and partner, but nothing more.

And she was okay-ish with that. Really. Oliver had made it pretty clear after they got back from Russia that they were forever in the friendzone. And Felicity was really proud of herself for being able to quash her feelings and move forward.

And then Sara Lance had shown up and town and her and Oliver had gotten together. His words about not being with someone he cared about seemed especially shallow now. But once again, Felicity pushed her feelings down and actually became friends with Sara, promising herself that she could get through this.

Last night, she even took a bullet for Sara when they went up against the Clock King. A lot of the aftermath was hazy due to the special aspirin Digg had given her, but she vaguely remembered being carried in Oliver’s arms back to the lair. And him saying something about her always being his girl.

And then there was this morning. Felicity had called off of work, if you can’t take a day off when you are nursing a bullet wound, when can you? Her fuzzy head needed coffee, though, so she walked down to the shop on the corner for a cup. And was very surprised to see Oliver in line behind her a few minutes later.

“Are you following me?” she asked him when he plopped down at the table next to her after they both got their drinks.

“Um…maybe after last night I just wanted to stick close in case you needed anything.”

Felicity didn’t have time to ponder how sweet that was because a rough hand slapped Oliver’s shoulders. “Oliver Queen, it is so good to see you again,” a large man said in a thick Russian accent.

“Gregor, I just saw you a few weeks ago in Russia. What a surprise to see you so soon.” Oliver had put on his cordial mask, but Felicity recognized the stiffness in his body as him being poised to attack. “This is my executive assistant, who was just leaving.”

Oliver nodded to her and Felicity took the hint and got up to leave, but Gregor grabbed her arm and led her back to her chair. She could have imagined it, but she could swear she almost heard Oliver growl.

“Please, Oliver, I don’t wish to interrupt your coffee. Anatoly thought that since you reached out to us for assistance, it might be time for us to explore expanding our operations here in Starling City. We do have you here as a Kapitan already. I can be your second.”

Oliver’s eyes narrowed at the man.

“Anatoly and I are good friends – and he did not call me about this. That is unlike him.”

Gregor’s face filled with indignation. “Check your phone for messages. Maybe you were distracted and missed his call. Understandable when you have such distractions here in America,” the man said, leering suggestively at Felicity.

It was all she could do not to throw up in her mouth. Oliver then did something unexpected – the threw his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to him while he checked his phone. She had gotten hugs from Oliver before, but none of them…lingered like this.

“I apologize, Gregor, I do see a missed call from Anatoly. Let me call him back this morning and perhaps we can arrange a meeting for later today?”

The man had still not taken his leering eyes off of Felicity. “Thank you for apologizing for doubting my integrity, Mr. Queen. I would be happy to meet with you later. Maybe in the meantime, to make up for the insult, you can allow me time with your ‘assistant’ for the rest of the afternoon.”

Oliver slammed his fist on the table and leaned forward, snarling something in Russian. Gregor spat something back.

Felicity had no idea what they were saying – and Oliver shocked her by what he did next. He turned Felicity to him and kissed her. At first it was a soft kiss on her lips, but then she heard him sigh like he was surrendering to something and then it became more passionate. He cupped both sides of her face and explored her mouth. She felt it from the tip of her toes to her hard-thumping heart.

When he finally pulled away, she was dazed, and he had a strange expression on his face. He exchanged more words in Russia with Gregor before the large man stormed off.

“What just happened?” She asked as Oliver finally relaxed when Gregor was out of the coffee shop. He looked at her silently for a minute, before he put on another cordial mask.

Damn, she hated those fake masks of his. And she thought he would never use them on her. It hurt a little. But once again, she brushed her feelings aside.

“I’m so sorry, Felicity. In the Bratva, the men share women who are not permanent partners. I had to tell Gregor that we were engaged so he wouldn't be entitled to a day with you.”

“Entitled? That’s disgusting.” Felicity wanted to puke again.

“Yeah, the Bratva is not known for their excellent treatment of women, which is another one of the reasons why I wanted out of the organization.”

“Well, I’m grateful for the fake engagement, and for the kiss I guess you had to give me to prove it, if it meant I don’t have to spend any more time around that guy.”

Oliver looked at her with a guilty expression. “Well, he was still insulted that I did not believe his motivations for coming here, so he demanded you come with me to the meeting tonight. And he wants to see the ring.”

“I don’t have a ring,” Felicity said, stunned.

“We will stop for one in the family vault on the way to the lair later today. I don’t want the Bratva in Starling City, but I have to be a polite host before I can dissuade Anatoly from this idea or we could end up with a lot of violence on our hands. I’m sorry to put you in this position, Felicity.”

She forgave him, of course, but between the “you’ll always be my girl” from last night and being fake engaged this morning, Felicity was struggling to keep it together. Felicity didn’t think her pride could take this anymore – especially now that he had “ordered” her to sit here in the lair taking it easy due to her injury, and he had the nerve to parade around her with no shirt on. She knew how his lips felt on hers now, and now she was in a lust spiral of epic proportions. And lust caused her to bring up other feelings she had for Oliver.

She was done with this bull crap. She needed some time away.

Felicity waiting until Oliver was deep into a sparring session with John before she snuck up the stairs and out the door of the lair. She had almost made it out of Verdant when she heard his voice calling her.

“Felicity? Are you okay? I thought you were going to take it easy so you don’t tear your stitches.”

“No, you said I should take it easy.” Felicity winced when her words came out snappier than she expected. Oliver’s eyes widened at her tone and he put his hands up in defeat.

“Hey, you’re not a prisoner here, I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

The genuine look of concern in his eyes almost broke her. “I can’t do this anymore, Oliver. I need to go…somewhere.”

Oliver stepped closer to her, the concerned look turned to panic. “Why do I get the feeling you don’t just mean go home for the night?”

“I can’t do this anymore, Oliver.”

“Can’t do what? Be on the team? Maybe because of your injury it is a good idea for you to not go out in the field from now on, but that doesn’t mean you have to quit.”

“No not the team…everything. I can’t do any of this anymore. Being your IT person. Your EA. Your Girl Wednesday. Your friend. God, I can’t just be your friend anymore.”

Oliver’s face did that crinkly thing she liked when he didn’t understand what she was saying.

“Felicity, what are you talking about. Of course we’re friends. You’re my best friend. You’re one of the most important people in my life.”

It was now or never. _Suck it up, Buttercup_ , she told herself. It was time to swallow her pride and spit it out, regardless of the consequences.

“Oliver, I need to talk to you about something, but I need you to turn around.”

“What? Why?”

“Because I have to tell you something that’s really hard to say and I’m really embarrassed and I can’t do it when you’re looking at me with that face. Or interrupting me,” Felicity babbled.

“Felicity, you know you can tell me anything, you don’t need to be embarrassed.”

“Oliver, please?”

He let out a dramatic sigh, like it was the most ridiculous thing in the world that he had to turn around, but he finally did it.

“Okay, I’m ready…what do you need to say.”

Felicity counted to ten, mostly to steady her racing heart and build courage.

“I don’t want to be friends anymore.” Oliver started to turn and protest at her words, but she hurried to stop him. “Please don’t turnaround and interrupt. Promise you won’t say anything until I’m done?”

Oliver sighed again. “I promise, Felicity.”

“I don’t want to be friends anymore because I want it to be more than that. This is so stupid, I know, but I’m in love with you. I have been for a long time. And I know you can’t feel the same way about me so I’ve worked so hard to stop loving you, but you keep doing things that make that REALLY hard.”

All of Oliver’s body had frozen, but he had kept his promise to not turn or speak.

“And then Sara came and it was hard, but I was okay. But then last night you said I was your girl, and this morning you kissed me and I can’t take it anymore. I can’t be the Girl Wednesday or the plucky sidekick. So I need some time away. I can’t pretend to be your fiancé with Gregor tonight because it will break my heart because the whole time I would be wishing it was real.”

Tears were streaming down her face, and Felicity wrapped her arms around her body. It felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Even if she lost Oliver’s friendship because of this (her heart clenched at the thought), at least she wouldn’t be living a lie anymore.

The two of them stood there in silence.

“Am I allowed to talk now?” Oliver finally spoke, and she realized he had been waiting on her. She let out an awkward laugh.

“Oh, uh, yes, sorry. Thanks for letting me get it all out. Go ahead. But, uh, can you still please stay turned around because I’m not sure I’m ready to see your face again.”

“Seriously? Fine.” Oliver’s stance relaxed a bit, but he kept his word and did not turn around. “I would be wishing it was real, too.”

“What?”

“Our engagement. Tonight. Gregor. I would be wishing we were really engaged, too.”

“WHAT?” Felicity repeated, because her brain could not really come up with any other word in this moment.

“Felicity, I am so in love with you. I have been for a very long time. Probably from the first time I stepped into your cubicle and you babbled at me.”

“I was chewing a pen.”

“It was red.”

“But…but…what about Sara?”

“All the women, including Sara, were me trying to move on because I didn’t think I deserved you. You are this beautiful light and I’m this torn and broken man.” His voice cracked at his words, and she crossed the room to him. She didn’t touch him, though, not yet. “Sara and I broke up last night. After what happened with the Clock King and I could have lost you, I couldn’t live with the lie anymore.”

Felicity’s tears increased. “We are both kind of idiots, aren’t we? This whole time, we could have…”

Oliver jumped when he heard her voice immediately behind him. “Felicity, please, can I turn around now?” He begged.

She told him yes, her voice now broken with the sobs that were coming out of her. Oliver whirled so quickly and pulled her into his arms. Before her face was buried into his chest, she saw that he had tears of his own running down his face.

After a few minutes, he pulled back from their hug and gave her another kiss – filled with even more passion than their one this morning.

“I love you, Felicity Smoak,” he told her when they finally came up for air.

“I love you too, Oliver, so much.”

He hugged her again before taking a step back with a serious expression. “I have something to say, and it may seem strange to you, so I’m a bit nervous to talk to you about it. I’m going to need you to turn around.”

“What, why?”

He grinned at her. “All’s fair, Ms. Smoak. It’s your turn.”

She grumbled at him, but obediently turned around and waited.

“Um, this may seem quick, but we’ve really been a part of each other’s lives for nearly two years now, but I’m wondering if I gave you my grandmother’s ring before our meeting tonight, it could be for real?”

She gasped in surprise and opened her mouth to speak, but he interrupted her. “It’s still my turn, no talking, yet. I love you Felicity, and you said you loved me. You’re it for me. And we can have as long of an engagement as you want, but once I put this ring on your finger, I don’t want to ever take it off.”

He was quiet after that.

“Can I talk now?”

He laughed. “Yes, of course.”

“I want it to be real as well. And you’re it for me, too.”

“Okay, you can turn around now.”

And when she did, it was to Oliver down on one knee, holding a beautiful antique diamond ring in his hand.

Oliver had a difficult time later that night convincing the Bratva to not bring their operations to Starling City. He succeeded eventually. And the one thing that he did not have a hard time convincing Gregor of – that he and Felicity were very much in love and getting married.

The Russian was a little freaked out by the really big smiles they couldn’t seem to wipe off their faces.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this! Drop a comment and let me know what you think. If you want to follow me elsewhere, I'm smoakinfan on Twitter and wherethereissmoak on Tumblr.


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